Three rookies vying for clerk of courts job

Published: Monday, June 16, 2014 at 04:47 PM.

When Don Howard walks out of the Okaloosa County Clerk of Court’s office in October, 40 years of experience will follow him down the hall and out the door.

The next man to occupy the office, who will have been chosen by then, won’t have any.

Charles Baugh, J.D. Peacock and Dan Spence, who face off in a candidate forum at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Niceville City Hall, have never worked for the Okaloosa Clerk’s Office.

That doesn’t mean each isn’t certain of his qualifications or short of ideas on how to do the job.

Baugh said his military background will serve him nicely in a job where “policy, regulation and procedures” are key and his first act as Clerk of Court would be to ensure that offices in north and south Okaloosa are working together.

“I’ve heard some north end and south end policies and procedures aren’t quite the same,” he said.

He’s got some other plans to increase revenues and reduce costs within the sprawling government agency, but Baugh said he’s holding those close to the vest until the campaign season begins in earnest.

Peacock said one priority for him is making the Clerk of Court’s Office more accessible and transparent for county residents. A second, he said, is to create an “inspector general’s division” where problems within county government can be reported.

“I’d like to be able to recognize and manage problems early before they become a huge black eye on the community,” he said.

Spence said his first focus would be tightening internal controls within the clerk’s office to ensure that audits are conducted and scrutiny is given to areas where fraud or theft could occur.

Spence has been a director of finance for the Tom Thumb convenience store chain since 2006. He is in charge of risk management/loss prevention as well as information technology. Prior to taking that job he worked for Georgia-Pacific in Atlanta.

Peacock is a certified law enforcement officer presently serving as chief administrator for the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. He has worked with the courts, in information technology, as a budget director and as a criminal investigator.

Baugh spent 27 years in the Air Force and has worked as a defense contractor. He is a former Crestview city councilman who is interested in taking the next step into a county position and in becoming Okaloosa’s first duly elected African-American constitutional officer.

When Don Howard walks out of the Okaloosa County Clerk of Court’s office in October, 40 years of experience will follow him down the hall and out the door.

The next man to occupy the office, who will have been chosen by then, won’t have any.

Charles Baugh, J.D. Peacock and Dan Spence, who face off in a candidate forum at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Niceville City Hall, have never worked for the Okaloosa Clerk’s Office.

That doesn’t mean each isn’t certain of his qualifications or short of ideas on how to do the job.

Baugh said his military background will serve him nicely in a job where “policy, regulation and procedures” are key and his first act as Clerk of Court would be to ensure that offices in north and south Okaloosa are working together.

“I’ve heard some north end and south end policies and procedures aren’t quite the same,” he said.

He’s got some other plans to increase revenues and reduce costs within the sprawling government agency, but Baugh said he’s holding those close to the vest until the campaign season begins in earnest.

Peacock said one priority for him is making the Clerk of Court’s Office more accessible and transparent for county residents. A second, he said, is to create an “inspector general’s division” where problems within county government can be reported.

“I’d like to be able to recognize and manage problems early before they become a huge black eye on the community,” he said.

Spence said his first focus would be tightening internal controls within the clerk’s office to ensure that audits are conducted and scrutiny is given to areas where fraud or theft could occur.

Spence has been a director of finance for the Tom Thumb convenience store chain since 2006. He is in charge of risk management/loss prevention as well as information technology. Prior to taking that job he worked for Georgia-Pacific in Atlanta.

Peacock is a certified law enforcement officer presently serving as chief administrator for the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. He has worked with the courts, in information technology, as a budget director and as a criminal investigator.

Baugh spent 27 years in the Air Force and has worked as a defense contractor. He is a former Crestview city councilman who is interested in taking the next step into a county position and in becoming Okaloosa’s first duly elected African-American constitutional officer.